Metallic seal.



w. B. ELLIOTT.

METALLIC SEAL.

APPLICATION ZE'ILBD APR. 6,1907. I

Patented Dec. 7, 1909.

@Hozncxj a citizen of the United States of America,

WILLIAM 'E. ELLIOTT, or GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

.. METALLIC snarl.

I i Specification of Letters Patent TPatented Dec. 7, 1909.

Application filed April 6, 1907. Serial lie. $66,832.

To all whom it may,

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM'E. ELLIQ'I'I,

residing at" Grand Rapids, in the ,county of Kent and State of Michigan,haye invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Seals; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, .and exact de-'scriptionof the invention, such as will one ditionsrequirin able othersskilled in. the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in metallic, or similar seals. Iniising such seals it is often desirable to insert the same in a smallround opening, not adapted to receive a fiat flexible shackle because ofthev width of the latter. It also often occurs, that a rigid boltllikeportion instead of a flexible and yielding shackle is needed to not onlyafford a seal, but also a rigid body to secure the parts in place thatare sealed.

The object of my invention is to' provide a seal adapted to be usedunder various cona fiat flexible band or shackle, or a rigid bolt likeportion inserted in the arts to be sealed to hold the same, or as a be tlike member adapted to be inserted in an opening not adapted to receiveaflat band, as occasion may require.

My device consists essentially of a shackle member comprising both aflat flexible portion and a rigid bolt-like portion, the respectiveportions carrying at their outer ends t 1e seal body and the co-actinglocking member adapted to be inserted therein, whereby either the flatflexible part of the shackle or the rigid bolt like part of the same maybe engaged with the article to be sealed or secured, as occasion mayrequire, as hereinafter more fully described and particularly )OlIlilQdout in the claims, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure l is air enlarged elevation of a device embodying my invention,with parts broken away to show the construction; Fig. 2. a detail inplan, view of the shackle orlion-of the seal; Figs.3 and 4 details 0 thehousing member; Fig. 5: a detail in end elevation of the, sealingportion of the/device as shown in Fig. 1.; Fig. 6. a detail in plan andelcvation of a modified construction corresponding to the interlockingmember 5 of Figs. 1 and 2: and Fig. 7. an enlarged cross section oftherigid or bolt like portion of j the shackle on line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Like numerals refer to like parts in all of the figures.

. The shackle portion of the device which is of considerable length, is,for a portion of its length, comparativelyrigid and resembles a bolt, asshown by the numeral 1, and adapted to be inserted in various objectshaving suitable openings to receive it, and thus operate as a rigid boltto secure such objects to each other, and to be forced into an openingagainst some resistance and without bending or buckling. It is for theremaining portions 2 of its length comparatively flexible, or otherwiseadapted to be folded upon itself, or fiexedso that it may be bent aroundthe object which it is' desired to seal, or extended through the,objects which it is desired to fasten together. This shackle, fora'portion' of its length, is flat, the flat portion being provided witha suitable opening for the insertion of the end of the rigid portion. Inthe form of the device which I have shown in thc drawings. the flexibleportion is thus flattened throughout its entire length, and the formshown in Figs. 1. and 2 obviously may be constructed from wire orsimilar stock, by rolling or flattening out a portion thereof thinenough so as to be conveniently flexible, while the remaining portionremains in its original form and is comparatively rigid.

I prefer, however, to form the body from a sertion, the end of thisportion may be made conical or rounded, as shown. in Fig.

The flat portion which is located at or near the other end of theshackle from the rigid portion, is provided with an opening, as shown inFig. 9., adapted to receive the shouldered end. This opening is normallysmaller in diameterthan the shoulder, so that some portion or all of theedge surrounding the opening will engage the shoulder i, and the edge ofthis opening is adapted in any 1 cmivenicnt manner to yield and permitthe shouldered end to pass through said opening and then to spring backinto engagement with the shoulder. The means shown in Fig. 1.forpermitting such yielding and engaging is that the metal surroundingthe opening is drawn to a truncated conical form the shackle is not ofsuch character that the and divided at {intervals in the place of itsaxis, whereby radially yielding spring retainin members 5 are formed toen age the should er land securely hold the in id end in position afterit is inserted in suc open- If the material most convenient to use forlines surrounding the opening in Fig. 2. in-

dicate outer edge of this plate 10, which is secured to-the shackle inany convenient manner, wherebythe shackle and the plate are held inroperrelation to. each other. Instead ot' manufacturing the shacklefromround stock having a portion rolled or pressed so as to be flat, Ihave found it in some respectsmore desirable to construct the same fromflat stock, such as sheet tin. This method of construction isillustrated in Fig. 2. After taking a strip of tin or similar stock ofsuitable width, one end thereof can be struck up'in suitable dies andtransformed into asubstantially solid'and comparatively rigid and boltlike body, preferably circular in cross-section. This portion is shownin Fi 7. by numeral 12, while the numeral 13 (Flg. 2.) indicates thetapering corrugations in the flat stock as it is passing into the roundform. These corrugations serve to stiffen that portion of the strip sothat it will be sufliciently rigid to serve as a bolt and will notbuckle as it is pressed into locking position or yield laterally wheninserted in openin s in the members secured thereby. In or er that thisportion so struck up may have the most rgidity and may be capable ofcar- "-rying a suitable shoulder, I bend the tin so 4 that itis foldedupon itself and compressed in the form shown in cross section in Fig. 7.When struck up in this form, and especially if it is then subjected toheat whereby the layers are at least partially welded together, thisportion becomes in a practical way the equivalent of the solid body. Theheat welding,l wever, I do not consider essential. To protecttheshoulder end after it is inserted through the opening in the otherend of the bo'dymember, I provide a housing, or casing,

thereof so as to be of substantially the same diameter as the encl'to beinserted therein,

thus holding the inserted end in position and I preventing any play ormotion thereof which would tend to loosen 'the retaining members ment.This housing may be secured in place in any suitable manner; but themeans I have shown is to provide it with oppositely extended members 7,which are intended to be folded transversely across the flat portion ofthe body member opposite and over the opening therein. To preventlongitudinal motion of this casing upon the shackle, and more accuratelyto register its properposition in the process of assembling, I providethe shackle with recesses 8 8, with which recesses the wings 7 7 engage,and when these wings are folded down over the shackle, the edges of thesame present no protuberance caused by the wings. Furtherto' secure thehousing or casing in its proper position after the seal is locked,andfurther to protect against accidental or intentional injury to thespring engagement with the shoulder, I make these wing members longenough so that when they are folded down, they will overlap the openingin the shackle, and I provide them with superposed openings 11 which arepreferably countersunk or truncated conical, as shown in Fig. 3 .andadapted to register with each other and with the opening in the shackle.This countersinking, as shown, more securely retains them in properposition and also guides the end of the bolt member when it is insertedtherein. The'diameter of these openings should be substantially the sameas that of the end of the rigid portion to be inserted therethrough,thus preventing any access to the locking engagement between theretaining members and the shoulder, and also preventin any lateral playor working of the rigid por ion with reference to the opening or thecasing whereby the parts might become loosened.

I have shown preferred forms of construction, but it \Vlll be obviousthat many "5, and release the shoulder from its engagedetails can bevaried without departing from the invention. For example the length ofthe shackle, the length of the bolt-like part thereof: the degree offlexibility or rigidity of its parts, its area and shape incross-section at different parts. the location, form and length of theshoulder, the locatlon, size and form of the-opening, the extent thatthe yielding margin pro ects from the plane of the shackle, and thedegree of resistance furnished by the yielding marg1n,all these, as wellas other details, can

be varied to meet the of the use desired.

What I claim is:

l. A seal comprising a sealbody having locking means therein to retainthe end of the shackle, a shackle attached to the seal body at one end,said shackle being flexible throughout a portion of its length next theseal body, and rigid and bolt-like throughout the remaining portion ofits length, the end only of the rigid portion being adapted tobeinserted in the seal body, whereby the shackle may be applied either asa flexible hand or the rigid portion thereof outside the seal body maybe applied as a rigid bolt.

2. A seal comprising a shackle having a flat flexible portion providedWith an opening near one end to receive the other end, and a rigidbolt-like portion having a shoulder near the other end, and adapted tobe inserted in said opening, a housing to inclose the end only of saidrigid portion, and locking means in the housing to engage said shoulder,whereby the shackle may be applied as a flexible band, or the rigidportion extendin outside the housing may be appeculiar requirementsplied as; rigid bolt.

3. A seal comprising a shackle embodying a. rigid portion, and alsohaving a flat, flexible portion, said rigid portion having a shouldernear its end, said flexible portionhaving an opening near its end toreceive the end of said rigid portion and normally of less diameter thanthe said end, and also having yielding margins, and a housing 'inclosingthe end of said rigid portion and said margins.

.4. A seal comprising a shackle having a bolt-like portion pr ovidedwith a shoulder near its end and a broad flat flexible portion having anopening near its end adapted to receive the shouldered end of thebolt-like portion, means for locking the shouldered end after it haspassed through said opening, a housing secured to the shackle andinclosing said shouldered end and locking means, and means carried bythe housing to receive the said end and hold the same against lateralmovement.

5. A seal comprisin a shackle having a bolt-like portion provided 'witha shoulder near its end, and a broad fiat flexible portion I having anopening near its other 'end adapted to receive the shouldered end of theboltlike portion, means for automatically looking' the shouldered endafter it has assed through said opening, and a housing l1:lCl0S-' ingsaid means and end and having a portion to receive the said-end adaptedto fit closely around the same and prevent lateralmovenent thereof.

6. A seal comprising a shackle havinga'. round bolt-like portion and afiat flexible portion having an opening to receive the end of thebolt-like portion, means for autojtion, an

- an opening registering matically locking the end of the bolt-likeportion after it has passed through said opening, and a housinginclosing said means and the said end, said housing having a baseextension folded upon the flat portion of the shackle opposite theopening therein and provided with an opening to receive the end of thebolt-like portion.

7. A seal comprising ashackle l'iaving a round rigid portion and a Hatflexible por-. .tion provided with an openii'lg,to-rcceive the end .ofthe rigid portion, means Itor auto matlcally locking the said end afterit has passed through said opening, a l'iousi-ng in said means and end,opposing base.

closin extensions on said housing folded aroundjthcflat opening and eachhaving an opening to receive said end and registering with each. otherand with the opening int-hcflat portion.

8. A seal comprising a ackle having.

ortion of the shackleopposite 'said'f round rigid portion atone end anda 'flat flexible portion at the other end provided With an opening toreceive the end of, the

round rigid portion and marginal r'e'cesses opposite said opening, meansfor automatically locking said end after ithas passed through saidopening, a housing inclosing said end and means, opposing baseext-ensions on said housing engaging said lateral portion at one endround and rigid and also I provided with a circumferential shoulder, andtheremainder of the other end flat and flexible and provided with anopening to receive the round end, said opening havin a truncatedconical. margin radially slitte to permit the shouldered end to passtherethrough and to retain the same, a housing inclosln said end andtruncated conical pora, base extension on said housing folded aroundsaid flat portion and having with the opening in the'said portion, saiopening having its mar depressed into the base ofsaid truncate conicalmargin. 10. Aseal comprisinga shackle having a rigid round portipn atone end and a flat flexible portion at the other end provided withanopen'ingto receive the endof the round port-ion, and-also havingmarginal recess'esaopposite said opening, means for automaticallylocking'said round end after it has passed throu hs'aidopenmg, a housinginclosing said en and illea'ng find opposing ,base extensions on saidsliousmg engagin said recesses, and folded over-the edges 0 said flatportion.

11. A seal comprising a shackle havin a. round, rigid portion at one endprovi ed I &

having with a 'circumferential shoulder near the end, and a flatflexible portion at the other; end provided with an opening of lessdiameter than the round end and having a flexible margin to saidopening, and also having marginal recesses opposite saidopening, ahouslng inclosing said end and mar-' gin, 'and opposing base extensionson the housing engaging said marginal recesses and folded over the saidflat portion, and also penings-registering with the open ing in the flatportion.

12. A seal comprising a shackle having a rigid round portion providedwith a circumferential shoulder near its end, and a v flat flexibleportion having a truncated conical portion near the other end providedwith an opening to receive and retain the -hous1ng engaging saidrecesses and folded around said fiat portion, said extensions alsohaving openings to receive the said round end sald openings havingmargms depressed 'within the base of the said truncated conical portion.V

.In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. ELLIOTT. Witnesses: LUTHER V. Moon'roiv, GEORGIANNA GRACE.

